My condolensces for your experience. It sounds like an entirely unpleasant endeavor.

[ And continue the line of questioning, Zhongli shall, as Jiang explains the more finer details of purification. Or perhaps more accurately, the theory of purification since all of this was one giant assumption that the tree could undergo such a process. ]

So as a result of the tree's demanded offerings, the people were adversely affected and retaliated, creating this---

[ He gestures toward the miasma, coughing once into his glove as the subject sears down his throat. Unpleasant. Wholly unpleasant. ]

Miasma to grow so potent?

[ All that negative energy with nowhere to go. ]

If that is the case, I feel even more wary of trying to absorb such malevolent energy ourselves.